Consciousness is expressed as the awareness of self which is influenced by past and present experiences. When a child is born it does not know itself and in fact the early years of development emphasize on learning about the environment. Biological conscience is influenced by what we see and hear.
A child realizes her gender by observing those around him or her. It is this consciousness that defines our behavior and personality. This paper seeks to define consciousness, focusing on the biological perspective to explain the various aspects of consciousness and how they affect our lives.
Personhood theory explains that consciousness is always present in human body but it can not be seen because it’s more spiritual than physical. Both the brain and the consciousness are intertwined because the brain acts as the reservoir of information which is conveyed by the consciousness. When somebody touches another person that touch is interpreted by the conscious of that person to determine whether it’s a friendly or hostile touch. From that point the mind is induced by the consciousness in response to the touch.
Human consciousness is said to be divided because the brain is capable and actually refines information in two ways. Our consciousness creates an image of what we are unable to see in our eyes. The unconsciousness enables us to perform various tasks at the same time because information is processed in dual ways. A good example is when one watches television while talking on the phone at the same time without missing anything in both cases.
When our consciousness is focused on one single event our attention to that event makes it difficult for us to notice other events in close vicinity. When one is driving while talking on the phone he or she may not notice a pedestrian crossing the road and this might result in an accident. This is because our consciousness is held hostage by our object of focus hence we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear and ignore other activities.
If you are watching dancers do their thing your focus won’t be on all of them but on the one that looks more appealing to your eyes. When you are thinking about other things that are not physically present you are said to be asleep because you do not realize what is happening in your current location.
Being awake comes in when something happens or someone does something to bring your attention back such as tapping your back. This situation is referred to as inattentional blindness and this is why when you watch a movie more than once you will realize there are things you did not notice the first time you watched it (Myers 59).
Sleep is one of the most crucial elements in every human being because it plays various roles in someone’s life. First this kind of resting enables people to relax the mind and also enhances the growth of a person. In ancient days, sleeping cautioned people from the dangers of darkness.
When we sleep our consciousness is at rest and that’s when the tissues of the brain are mended. Sleeping helps us to remember the events of the day and thus come up with ideas of doing them better to achieve more fulfillments. Moreover, fosters creativity because it is in the sleep that ideas that bring lasting solutions are drafted.
On the other hand dreams make us feel complete because they allow us to experience what is missing in our lives. Dreams also participate in arranging information in our brains. It is also the dreams that enhance the growth and conservation of neural pathways. If people could not have dreams our brains could not interpret neural activity.
As seen in the biological concept, consciousness and the mind rely on each other because none of them can exist without the other. The consciousness offers a platform where the mind can issue commands to the other parts of the body while the brain jump starts the consciousness. Consciousness is very important in understanding human behavior.
When we speak it is our conscience that guides us in selecting the appropriate words in our conversations. Before somebody speaks to another person they arrange their words before the commencement of the conversation by visualizing the response they are likely to get.
When one is guilty over his/her actions it is because that person knows that he/she did not follow the guidelines of his/her consciousness. This awareness is capable of depriving humans of their happiness.
Kirk argues that when we look at things around us it is the brain that explains what those things mean to us by referencing to the available information about those things (28). For instance, when you see a lion the perception derived by the brain informs you that you should run to the hills because your life is in danger. This information is derived from the intellectual knowledge about lions, thus selective attention.
Our consciousness is what induces us to plan ahead for future events. It is the same element that tells us that something is not going in the right direction even before it actually happens. When somebody stands behind you even when you don’t see him or hear him something inside you will make you nervous and want to turn around.
Consciousness tends to swell as we grow due to our interactions with informative sources such as television and magazines. Consciousness helps us to identify our strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. When we know where our strengths lie we extract them and use them for own betterment. This is why different people have varied talents which drive them to different careers.
Everyone has his/her own consciousness and hence they are different that’s why one person may decide to become an athlete and yet another one decide to become an accountant.
Our consciousness makes us decide what we want to become in our lives because it identifies what we do best and makes us develop interests in that particular activity. When we don’t adhere to the guidelines of our consciousness we don’t feel complete until we fulfill our desires.
This explains why some people change their careers later in life. This happens because in their previous lives they knew what they wanted to do with their lives but may be because the situation was not favorable back then they opted to take what the nature offered.
Consciousness helps us to discover our weaknesses in life. People have varied weaknesses and the weaknesses of one person could be strengths in another person. For instance one person may be poor in public speaking while another one could be very good in speaking to crowds of people. In addition to that our consciousness influences our likes and dislikes.
When we are in the company of the people that we like it is our consciousness that makes us trust and have confidence in those people because our awareness analyzes their personality and concludes that they don’t mean harm to us. When you are talking with someone over the phone you can not see them but you can tell when they are smiling and when they are angry due to interpretations guided by your consciousness.
Consciousness is a very complicated issue because it sees what our physical eyes can not see. Biological consciousness causes our bodies to react according to our demands.
For instance, when a woman is pregnant her mammary glands begin to secrete milk because the body realizes that the forthcoming child will need food. When someone is used to having meals at certain time of the day even without a clock that person can still tell when the time is right for having a meal. These thoughts are influenced by our consciousness.
Even in animals it is their consciousness that drives them to behave in a particular manner. Many animals begin to mate when there are heavy clouds because their consciousness tells them that soon there will be plenty of food to sustain them hence the time is ripe for multiplying. Further more when the young one is born it’s the consciousness of the animal that induces it to take care of the young one.
In humans there are many body reactions that are induced by biological consciousness. For instance when room temperatures become high the hair that is on our various body parts lies flat to help in regulating body temperature.
On the other hand when room temperatures are so low our hair becomes stiff to prevent the loss of body temperature. This logic is quite true because temperature is not something that you can see or touch but our consciousness is able to interpret the climate.
Barrett (2006) argues that our consciousness is what boosts our self esteem in relation to how we see ourselves. There is a certain level of fear that is connected with consciousness because when we are proud of who we are the main concern is dealing with our worries about how other people feel about us (45).
When a child is born consciousness is not present but it accumulates with experiences that a child faces during his development. That is why a child may comfortably play with fire because he/she does not know the dangers associated with it. The thoughts about fire are soon changed when the same flames hurts the child. This and other experiences are thought to influence our consciousness.
When we go through the education system our consciousness is changed and from there henceforth we consult our knowledge when making decisions.
Those who are not learned are thought to be poor decision makers because their mind does not have intellectual knowledge. Our consciousness is what induces thoughts of advancing ourselves because we are aware that changes may occur in future and it makes us see the need for being prepared to handle these changes.
When our consciousness is lost we are as good as dead because we can not tell what is happening to us. Someone who has lost consciousness can not tell where he/she is and why he/she is there. When someone has been in a comma for a long time the survival of his/her brains is what determines that person’s fate because if his brains are not alive then he is also dead.
If the affected person manages to survive he/she will take a lot of time in discovering him/herself because what he/she used to know has been erased without a trace. The consciousness of such a person can only be recovered by exposing the victim to the environment that reminds him/her about her/his past.
When we are faced with situations where we have a variety to choose from we consult our consciousness in order to choose the best option. Our consciousness therefore refers to the information that is availed by various sources before reaching a conclusion. Once information is presented to our consciousness it is analyzed thoroughly to understand the characters of that information.
For instance, when a baby is held by somebody else apart from its biological mother it looks in the eyes of the person holding it to determine whether the person can be trusted or not. During the creation of understanding the information is evaluated against the existing information in the mind and if there is a link between the two that’s when a conclusion is arrived at.
When decisions are being drafted our past experiences are evoked in a bid to understand which decision is safe and efficient in the long run. When the situation in question has never occurred in our lives decision making employs our instincts. But then our instincts are not perfect but there are some that are acquired naturally.
Therefore, biological consciousness is important in our daily life because it helps us to maintain our state of mind when asleep or awake. Through selective attention, our brains can help us make the right decisions with regard to more than one competing occurrences.
Works Cited
Barret, Richard. Building a Values-driven Organization: A Whole System Approach to Cultural Transformation. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006. Print.
Kirk, Robert. Zombies and Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.
Myers, David. Exploring Psychology. 8th ed. London Worth Publishers, 2010. Print.